


Faith In Me

by CrisisEvasion



Category: Red Dead Redemption
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Romance, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-10-06 01:41:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17336273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrisisEvasion/pseuds/CrisisEvasion
Summary: Javier took off his bowler hat and did a little bow with flourish. “Javier Escuella, at your service. Nice to meet you, señorita.” She giggled and did a curtsy in return. “And you, sir.”





	1. Chapter 1

“How much you cost, anyway?”

A woman from the corner of the saloon chuckled and looked at the conversation going down at the bar. She crossed her legs and leaned back, terribly amused.

“Well ain’t that a nice way to talk to a lady?” the bar girl quipped.

“Oh, I didn’t know I was talking to a _lady_ ” Arthur shot back.

The bar girl got up and muttered, “Excuse me” before leaving with her friend.

Cue.

The woman slung back her Lancaster Repeater sitting on her lap and started walking towards the group. Javier got up from the bar and looked after the girls’ figures as they were leaving. “Well, I must say… you got a fine way with the women, _amigo_.”

Arthur stepped towards the bar and took a shot. “Yeah, a regular dandy and charmer.”

“He’s _always_ had a way with the ladies, haven’t you Arthur?”

Arthur whipped around and stared. “Stacy?”

Stacy smiled. “The one and only.” Stacy put her arms open and gestured. “Come here and give me a hug, ol’ guy.”

The two chuckled and embraced. After they parted, Stacy glanced at Javier and Charles. “Arthur, introduce me to your friends!”

Arthur gestured to his right, “Gentlemen, this is Stacy Corran. She’s an old friend of mine.”

Javier took off his bowler hat and did a little bow with flourish. “Javier Escuella, at your service. Nice to meet you, _señorita.”_ She giggled and did a curtsy in return. “And you, sir.”

Charles came forward and offered his hand. “I’m Charles Smith.” Stacy grasped it firmly and shook his hand.

“Nice to meet you gents. I’m Stacy Corran, an acquaintance of Arthur’s.” She glimpsed at both Javier and Charles once over. “Are they also in…” Stacy made a little gesture with her head.

Arthur coughed and rubbed his nose. He looked around to make sure no onlookers were listening before whispering, “Yeah, they run with us.”

Stacy nodded slowly and smirked. “Actually, Arthur, I had something to ask of you.” She stepped towards Arthur and placed a hand on his chest delicately. Arthur raised his eyebrows while the other two grew more curious over the minute action.

Arthur held her hand and sternly said, “We can talk about this later, Stacy. I’m on some business right now.” He looked around. “Speaking of which, where’s Bill?” Javier laughed and turned to the bar to take another shot. “I dread to think about it.”

Javier turned and saw Bill walk in. “Hey, hey, hey, there he is.” The others turned and saw another patron bump into Bill before Bill grabbed him.

“He about to kiss that guy or punch him?” Arthur asked. “Why not both?” Stacy mused. She heard Javier snort to hold back a laugh. Stacy peered back and winked at Javier before returning her eyes to Bill. Javier tried to look at Bill but couldn’t keep his eyes off of Stacy. There was something alluring about her introduction.

Or maybe he was just craving another woman since Arthur had scared off the other bar ladies earlier. She had seemed close to Arthur though and he knew all too much about the power and dangers of an alluring woman.

Bill threw the first punch and the entire saloon seemed to get up. “Oh, and we have our answer!” Javier lunged forward and broke a bottle over another patron’s head. Before long, everyone started throwing fists and pieces of furniture across the saloon.

Stacy could only find herself in a corner again. “Nice to know the rest of your friends are still ever so prone to taking initiative, Arthur.” Stacy sighed, leaning back into the wall. Moments later, Stacy spotted a burly man from the stairs exclaiming, “What the hell is going on down here?”

A voice responded, “No, Tommy, stay out of this!” Tommy made a scowl and said, “Come here, you little greaser.” Irritation shot through Stacy. She soon saw Javier punch Tommy square across the face but the bigger man quickly retaliated. Their fight soon battled until they reached a table in front of Stacy. She watched Javier’s head was being slammed onto the table before rolling her eyes and grabbing Tommy’s shoulder.

He swung around his arm and Stacy managed to duck before his fist could come in contact with her face. However, she heard Tommy’s hand hit something on impact and peered up to see Arthur reeling back from the hit. Within seconds, Tommy grabbed Arthur and threw him across the table. Stacy looked over at Javier on the floor when she heard the window crash and Tommy running out of the saloon to meet the poor soul he just threw out.

“Come on, pretty boy…”

“Pretty boy? You’re kidding me. Pretty boi?!”

Stacy snickered before getting up and walking over to Javier. She held out her right hand. “You alright, Javier?” He grasped her arm with and slowly got up but lost his balance, pulling Stacy onto him. She caught herself with her left hand on the floor, her face inches away from Javier’s.

Her loose, dark hair flowed down from over her shoulder and met Javier’s ear, tickling it. Javier looked straight into her dark eyes that had widened in surprise. Her eyes soon softened as Stacy’s lips spread to form an amused grin. “You know, there are other ways of getting me on top of you.”

Javier smiled in turn. “Is that a promise, _hermosa_?” he drawled. Stacy immediately broke their eye contact and got up. Javier managed to notice a blush creeping from her blouse and smirked.

So the lady was more shy than what she let on.

She held out her hand again and, this time, Javier managed to gather himself off the floor- much to his dismay. Javier noticed some blood from her other hand.

“I think you’re bleeding…”

Stacy’s eyes widened again in shock and raised her left hand up. “I might’ve scraped my hand on some loose glass on the floor. It’ll pass.”

Javier suddenly remembered breaking a glass bottle over someone’s head and guilt shot through him. “Let me he-“

“Stop! Stop! Please!”

The two looked toward the outside. “We should go see how Arthur’s handling himself,” Stacy suggested. Javier nodded and they walked out. Arthur was stepping away from Tommy and stumbling toward the general store when Stacy came, holding him by his arm.

“You alright, Arthur?”

Arthur spit out some dirt. “Just- Just swell.”

“Making new friends I see, Arthur.” Two men walked up to them and Stacy instantly recognized Dutch.

“Look who we found sniffing about,” Dutch said. The man accompanying Dutch bowed extravagantly.

“Josiah Trelawny.” Arthur was trying to catch his breath and stumbled a little. Stacy looked to Dutch.

“Dutch! Do you remember me?”

Dutch stared at Stacy up and down. “Not sure if I do, Miss…”

Stacy pouted and Dutch let out a huge laugh. “Well, of course I do! I never thought I would see the day, Miss Corran! Such a pleasure to see you again! Have you finally decided to take up my offer?”

They soon found themselves joined by Javier, Charles, and Bill. Arthur slowly lowered himself to sit on the stair on the deck of the general store. “Now, Dutch, you know she-“

“In fact, I am.” Arthur whipped his head over to look at Stacy. She narrowed her eyes and gestured him to let her keep speaking.

Dutch coughed and said “Well, I certainly didn’t foresee this. I was expecting another rejection. I see going at life alone was not as … _exciting_?”

Stacy looked down. “I have my reasons, Dutch. If you’re still interested, I can explain at a later time. Is your offer still available?”

Dutch’s lips thinned as he stood in thought for a moment. “Miss Corran… our family is always welcome to you. You certainly did us a favor a few years back so I don’t see why not!” He extended his left hand. Stacy smiled wryly before also extending her bloody, cut hand. Some of the cuts had already started drying but there was one particular gash that had the smallest piece of glass sticking out from under her thumb.

_Shit, I forgot to clean my hand._

Dutch narrowed his eyes at the sight of her hand. “Bill, don’t tell me you involved the _lady_ into your fight!”

Bill stopped touching a bruise on his face and exclaimed, “Sir, I don’t even know her!”

“Dutch, I’m fine.” She glanced at Javier who was leaning against a post. “I simply slipped and fell.”

“I am really tired though. Is there any way I could get some rest at wherever you’re at? If you don’t mind, of course.”

Dutch laughed again and patted her shoulder. “Of course, dear. You’re part of the family now!” He looked at the other men hanging back.

“Javier! Please escort Miss Corran to Ms. Grimshaw and Hosea at Horseshoe Overlook. The rest of us will continue on with our business.”

Javier nodded. “Yes sir!”

She tipped her head in thanks and looked to Arthur. “You’re gonna be fine, old man?”

Arthur tried to laugh though it came out more like a wheeze. “I’ll see you back at camp.”

Stacy giggled. “See you back at camp.” Javier cleared his throat.

“My horse is hitched near the gunsmith store. I’ll take you there.” She flashed him a smile.

“Gladly, Mr. Escuella.”


	2. Chapter 2

Stacy nursed her injured hand as she and Javier walked towards the gunsmith store. Javier took long strides, almost entering a jog before he remembered that he had to escort the lady. He turned around, observing Stacy as she began picking at her wound.

“Do you need help with that? I have some bandages in my saddle bag.” asked Javier.

She looked up from her hand. “It’ll pass. I’ve gotten worse from falling before.” Stacy winced a little as she accidentally put too much pressure on her gash. The two rounded the corner and Stacy saw a well-groomed horse hitched to a post.

“Mr. Escuella, actually… I have my horse with me. I might just need some help getting on her though,” Stacy said.

“Sure. Also, Javier is fine.” He watched as she made an attempt to whistle. Without thinking, she put her bloodied fingers into her mouth and whistled a little tune. Immediately after, she gagged and spit, trying to get the iron taste of her mouth. Javier burst out in laughter and Stacy pouted again, gently flinging her hand and trying to dry her hand from the spit.

“Maybe I’ll say yes to the bandages after all.” A neigh resounded from the post office. A silver Turkoman trotted toward Stacy and Javier, slowing down immediately as soon as it was five feet from the two.

“Javier, I’d like you to meet Ma’am. She’s a beaut, this one.” She patted Ma’am’s neck. Javier slowly approached Ma’am and offered a carrot he retrieved from his saddlebag. The horse seemed to look toward Stacy for some type of affirmation.

Stacy laughed as she extended her hand for Javier to give her the carrot. “Sorry, Ma’am only eats food that I give her.”

Javier chuckled and said, “It’s like you’re her personal butler!”

Stacy snickered. “You wouldn’t be too far off.” Ma’am ate the carrot from her hand and snorted. “Ma’am, what do we do when a nice person offers you a treat?”  Ma’am suddenly walked toward Javier, startling him as the horse towered over him. Ma’am lowered her head over his shoulder and Javier gave her a few pats on the neck.

“Your horse is smarter than a lot of men that I know.” The horse at his shoulder whinnied and Javier laughed. “A lot more thankful too!”

“I’m sure she appreciates your words, Javier.” Ma’am finally lifted her head and backed up to return to Stacy’s side.

“If there are to be horse introductions, I suppose I should introduce mine as well.” Javier unhitched his American Paint horse and turned him to face Stacy. “This is Boaz, he’s been with me for quite some time now.”

Likewise, Stacy retrieved a beet from her own saddlebag and Ma’am seemed to neigh in objection. “Ma’am, sharing is caring and I know I didn’t raise you like this,” Stacy lectured. She offered the beet to Boaz and stroked the fur on his neck. “Hey there, how are you today?” Stacy cooed. Boaz was unresponsive, focusing on the treat being offered to him.

“I apologize, Ms. Corran. I’m afraid he knows more Spanish than English at this point.”

Stacy smiled and responded, “Is that so? And, please, just Stacy.” As she continued to pet Boaz’s neck, she got on her toes and whispered something into Boaz’s ear. Boaz made a hearty neigh and swished his tail. Javier quirked his eyebrows, curious as to what could incite such a reaction from his otherwise stoic horse. “Boaz is a handsome fellow, too.” Javier assumed that she meant that both of their horses were beautiful and not that Boaz and Javier were handsome.

“We should start heading to your camp. Would you kindly just make sure I don’t fall off Ma’am on our ride there?” The two mounted their respective horses and went into a trot as Javier guided Stacy toward Horseshoe Outlook. There were several moments of silence before Stacy decided to speak.

“So…are Hosea and Susan still there?”

Javier widened his eyes in surprise and his left at Stacy. “Uhhh, well, yes. It seems like you know most of the family already.”

She snorted. “A family, huh?” Stacy chuckled, thinking of Hosea’s fatherly behaviors and Susan’s “tender” scolding.

“Is something funny?” Her snort brought up a more defensive side of Javier. His shoulders tensed up and he narrowed his eyes at Stacy.

Stacy looked at Javier, furrowing her eyebrows. “I was just thinking of how much I missed Hosea and Susan… It’s nice to know that the gang is still going well after all these years. I’m sorry if I made it sound like I was making fun of you.”

“I- Well, I’m sorry. The gang is most of what I have here.” Javier looked away, trying to hide his rising blush from reacting too intensely.

Stacy returned her sights on the road ahead. “It makes sense. Dutch has his ways of bringing in the most varied types of people into one, big family.”

Javier finally mustered up the courage to ask, “So… how do you know Dutch and Arthur? You also know about Hosea and Ms. Grimshaw…”

Stacy smiled, remembering her first encounter with the “old guard” of the gang. “I met Arthur first. I was a distant relative of a lady love that Arthur had. Whenever Arthur came over, I would pressure him to teach me how to shoot a gun and use a knife in exchange for being the messenger between him and my relative. They didn’t end so well and I hadn’t seen him in a while.”

Javier was still a little confused. “That still doesn’t explain how you know Dutch, Hosea, and Ms. Grimshaw.”

Stacy thought for a second before laughing out loud, startling Javier. “I was being a stupid kid and decided to follow Arthur back to the gang. Got caught for trying to steal some things from their chest. I almost got away with it if it wasn’t for Ma’am’s mother making the loudest noise a horse could possibly make.” Ma’am seemed to snort in response and Stacy patted her neck. “I’m sorry honey, I didn’t mean to speak badly about your mum like that.”

Javier’s curiosity only grew from there. “I didn’t take you for a thief.”

She playfully made a finger gun with her right hand and put it against her chin. “These dashing good looks have fooled many people over the past twenty-four years.”

Javier couldn’t help smiling and chuckled, thinking, “ _How cute…_ ” Javier coughed, shaking his head to get rid of his thoughts.

Stacy returned a smile. “Anyway, Dutch was terribly amused and invited me to join the family but… I had things to take care of.” Her smile seemed to gently fade away as she fell back into a trance and looked into the distance.

Javier interrupted her thoughts, “I joined after Dutch caught me trying to steal a chicken so we aren’t too different.” She broke out laughing again, imagining a younger Javier trying to sneak into a camp and steal a screeching chicken.

They continued a light conversation as they trotted along the road to Horseshoe Overlook. Stacy started noticing the little details of Javier. Relatively clean clothes. A bowler hat fit snuggly on hair tied back into a small ponytail. A scarf that was almost hiding a knife scar that traveled the length of his neck.

_“I wonder what the story behind that is…”_

The two soon arrived at the camp and John called out from his watch position, “Who’s there?!”

“Javier!” He gestured to Stacy, “I brought someone Dutch wants Hosea and Ms. Grimshaw to see!”

“Alright… Any move from you and I won’t hesitate to shoot you down.”

“ _Yes sir_ ” Stacy said sarcastically.

Javier and Stacy hitched their horses. Stacy stroked Ma’am’s neck and whispered, “Play nice now.” Karen, Tilly, and Mary-Beth saw the two’s arrival and whispered amongst each other, curious about the new woman’s appearance.

Karen shouted from where the girls were sitting, “Javier! Don’t you remember the rule about bringing ladies to the camp?”

“What can I say, Karen? I like an audience!” Javier responded jokingly. The girls gasped and fell into a fit of giggles. Stacy blushed, heat building up in her face from Javier’s answer. Javier led Stacy to a table where Hosea and Grimshaw were having an increasingly more heated conversation, not noticing the earlier noise of their entrance. Stacy kept observing the surroundings of the camp, noting the number of bedrolls laid out and guessing where each member slept. She saw a woman and a man attempting to make a meal and a tied up man, seemingly a prisoner of the camp. Javier suddenly stopped in front of the table and Stacy bumped into his back. She returned her focus to the two older people in front of her.

“Hosea, Ms. Grimshaw, Dutch told me to bring you this woman. Said she was a new member of the family.”

Grimshaw got riled up. “ _Another mouth_?! All Dutch is doing is giving me more work-“

Stacy slowly peered over from behind Javier and cleared her throat. Grimshaw instantly stopped her tirade and looked at Stacy.

“Um, hi?” Stacy said softly, not knowing their reaction. What seemed like ten minutes of silence passed by before Grimshaw stomped around the table and pushed Javier aside. Hosea got up to try and stop Grimshaw. Before Stacy could react, Grimshaw pulled her into a tight, almost suffocating hug.

Stacy tensed from the sudden physical contact but slowly put her arms up to return the hug. “Nice to see you too, Susan.”

Right after, Grimshaw took Stacy by the ear and Stacy winced in pain. “OW, ow, ow!!”

“You disappear without a trace for so many years and all of a sudden you come back into _my_ camp, all scraggly-looking with no meat on your bones! Just who do you think you are, Ms. Corran?! I swear, if I had a dollar for every time you took ten years out of my life, I would be the richest woman in West Elizabeth!”

Hosea came up and detached Grimshaw’s grip on Stacy’s ear. “Susan, calm down. I’m sure the girl had her reasons.”

Grimshaw turned to Hosea. “They always have their reasons! If I wasn’t here, you lot would be eating pig shit and sleeping on swamp water!” Grimshaw shouted.

Stacy tried to remedy the situation and moved to Grimshaw’s side. “Susan, whatever would we do without you? Look around! The gang has grown so much since I was here and it’s obviously due to your hard work and leadership!”

Grimshaw turned back to Stacy, still visibly upset. “ _Don’t you start with me, missy_.” Stacy took Grimshaw’s hands and swung it, acting like a little girl trying to convince her mother to get her a new toy.

“Before you continue to scold me, _as I so rightfully deserve_ , could you possibly find some bandages for me?” Stacy raised her injured hand and pouted, playing the innocent girl act again. Grimshaw rolled her eyes and turned to the rest of the camp, barking orders for Strauss to find some bandages and Pearson to gather up some leftover stew.

Hosea patted her shoulder and said, “I presume Dutch has finally managed to convince you to join us?”

Stacy nodded. “You know Dutch and his charm.”

“I know all to well. Get some rest, will you? I’ll introduce you to the rest of the gang after you wake up.”

Hosea turned to Javier, who was watching the entire ordeal take place before his eyes. “Help her find a place to sleep with the girls, would you?”

Stacy stopped Javier and said to Hosea, “I’m sure Javier has done enough escorting for today. I think Dutch has something more worthwhile for him to do in Valentine than taking me in and around camp.”

Without missing a beat, Javier wondered whether Stacy could tell if what she said was mildly suggestive. Suddenly, they heard Grimshaw shout from across the camp, “Stacy! Get your ass here!”

“Well, that’s my cue.” She turned to Javier. “Thank you for being such a gentleman.” Stacy tip-toed and gave Javier a quick peck on his cheek before turning to Hosea and saying, “I’ll talk to you later.” She sauntered off, leaving Javier standing in shock as he watched her figure walk away. Hosea looked at Javier, amused at his reaction.

Hosea snapped his fingers in front of Javier, breaking him from his trance. “Never received a maiden’s kiss for a knight, Javier?” Hosea left Javier alone with his thoughts, intending to talk to Pearson about the need to increase more portions of stew for the camp. Javier stood for a few more seconds more before he decided to devote his attentions to doing camp chores instead of the new member.

The sun was beginning to set and the sky transitioned from a bright yellow to a mix of red and orange. Stacy’s body grew more and more tired. Nothing too extreme happened in the day but she still wanted to get some rest after the long day. She laid down a bed roll that Grimshaw had set up next to Tilly’s. The rest of the camp was still moving around but Stacy’s eyes grew heavy. Sleep finally took her as she anticipated meeting the rest of her new _“family”._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I'm back! I got busy this chapter took longer than I intended it to. In return, I wrote a (very slightly) longer chapter for y'all! Please enjoy <3

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! I haven't written anything in a long time but this story just would not leave me so I finally decided to write it out :) There isn't as much Javier as I had hoped for but I promise more's incoming! Also, this is my first work on AO3 so please tell me if there's some formatting/tags that I forgot!


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